Skilling Up for the Fourth Industrial Revolution

According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), we are currently in our fourth industrial revolution since the 18th century. While previous industrial revolutions brought us the momentous power of steam, electricity and computing, the current revolution promises to be even more groundbreaking than any that preceded it. That is because the fourth industrial revolution is building and extending digitization into every corner of society and human experience, and even into the human body itself. Technologies such as IoT, robotics, VR and AI are changing the world in ways we can’t yet fully predict. What we do know, however, is that these technologies are already calling for significantly upgraded IT skills.

The Top 5 IT Trends

While the fourth industrial revolution is presenting new challenges for professionals who fear that technology will make their jobs obsolete, but at the same time, the implementation of new technology is also introducing new opportunities. In response to this ongoing technological evolution , the WEF recently issued the latest edition of its biennial report on the future of jobs, and its findings are both concerning and hopeful. On one hand, the WEF predicts that 75 million jobs might be lost to technology by the year 2022. On the other, it also predicts that 133 million new roles might emerge, jobs that are better adapted to the new division of labor between humans, machines and algorithms.

The report highlights several technologies that are poised to receive even more business investment over the next three years. Among them are mobile internet, big data, blockchain, cloud computing and machine learning. Each of them includes skill sets that are now in critically short supply.

Mobile Internet

Of all the technologies listed in the WEF report, high-speed mobile internet ranks first. And it’s no surprise, given that more than 5 billion people around the world now have access to a smartphone (more than have access to basic sanitation). As 5G networks begin to arrive in North America, we can look forward to even more demand for mobile-specific skills, including app development, testing, and security.

Big Data

In the brief history of the digital age, the world has moved from gigabytes to petabytes, exabytes and beyond. The WEF estimates that, by 2022, 62% of data processing, search and transmission will be handled by machines (compared to 46% today). The challenge moving forward will be to turn all that passive information into a source of actionable insights that bring organizations closer to their strategic goals. In every data-rich initiative, big data will continue to command attention and investment in the coming years—particularly in the fields of communications, aviation, travel, tourism and healthcare—and the skills to handle all that information will continue to be frustratingly limited in availability. A recent KPMG survey shows that 67% of CIOs are struggling to find the right talent, with big data and analytics topping the list of the roles that are toughest to fill.

Blockchain

Most people associate blockchain with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, but the technology’s usefulness extends well beyond the world of finance. The built-in, verifiable security of blockchain makes it ideal for industries where privacy is of paramount importance. This is why the WEF reports that 67% of companies involved with healthcare, information and communications intend to adopt some form of blockchain by 2022. But there is clearly some catching up to do as far as the necessary skills are concerned. Since blockchain is still relatively new and still not well understood, at least 20% of respondents in the healthcare, finance and information sectors expect to invest up to a year in preparing their workforce for its adoption.

Cloud Computing

Though it’s been publicly available for only a little longer than a decade, cloud computing has become the bedrock of modern enterprise application platforms. According to the WEF, 72% of companies surveyed plan to be cloud enabled within the next three years (the figure includes 91% of companies in information and communications technology, 79% of aviation, travel and tourism enterprises, and 78% of companies in the oil and gas industries). In terms of opportunities for upgrading skills, the greatest anticipated needs are in DevOps, automation, orchestration, configuration management and security.

Machine Learning

As it continues to grow in sophistication, machine learning is powering many of today’s most innovative technologies. Currently, its most common uses include fraud detection and personalized online selling. In the future, it will guide the millions of decisions needed to safely operate self-driving cars, for example. The Future of Jobs survey found the greatest commitment to machine learning among companies in information and communications technology: 91% of them are planning to adopt machine learning within the next three years.

If there’s one key takeaway from the World Economic Forum report, it’s that organizations are not yet equipped with the skills demanded by the fourth industrial revolution. As the report states, “By 2022, no less than 54% of all employees will require significant re- and upskilling. Of these, about 35% are expected to require additional training of up to six months, 9% will require reskilling lasting six to 12 months, while 10% will require additional skills training of more than a year.”

The need to build workforce skills is obvious, but not every organization is ready to invest in its entire workforce. Over half the employers surveyed say they plan to develop their people’s skills, but that group is reserving the investment for their most valued personnel. In other words, the report says, “those most in need of reskilling and upskilling are least likely to receive such training.”

The World Economic Forum sees the potential of the fourth industrial revolution as overwhelmingly positive. But to unlock this potential, “workers will need to have the appropriate skills enabling them to thrive in the workplace of the future and the ability to continue to retrain throughout their lives. Crafting a sound in-company lifelong learning system, investing in human capital and collaborating with other stakeholders on workforce strategy should thus be key business imperatives, critical to companies’ medium to long-term growth, as well as an important contribution to society and social stability.”

If it isn’t clear today, it will soon become obvious that enterprise can no longer outsource or hire its way out of a skills shortage. Sooner or later, top organizations will take it for granted that building a culture of lifelong learning is an absolute prerequisite for success.

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